Environmental Health and Safety

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As the world population reaches 9.2 billion by 20401 and the global GDP likely to double over that same period₂, demand for goods and energy is increasing as living standards continue to rise. To meet these needs, the industrial sector has been facing mounting pressure to quickly increase production.

Safety circuits used in machine guarding applications incorporate devices such as sensors and relays to de-energize equipment if any hazardous condition is detected. These conditions normally involve a machine guard not being closed, a presence sensor detecting personnel in an unsafe area or the triggering of an emergency stop function.

Occupational slips, trips, and falls on the same level (STFL), have been a severe problem in the workplace for decades. Some of the most recent data about their financial impact on business comes from the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index.

Americans are living longer and working longer, resulting in an unprecedented transfor-mation of the workplace, according to the United States Senate’s Special Committee on Aging.

For safety managers in the oil & gas industry, flame resistant personal protective equipment is an indispensable tool to help mitigate daily flash fire hazards. Given the variety of FR PPE options, it can be hard to understand the needs of your specific job site.

Wearing a hard hat is essential for protecting your most valuable tool: your brain. The effects of Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI can be devastating, not just for the injured, but for their families as well.

Let us step back and reflect on the sweat, blood and tears that built this great nation. Think about the men and women that gave their lives. Labor Day is the day for us to remember these great workers. We should celebrate their lives, accomplishments, learn from their mistakes, and hold them in great regard every day of the year.

The number of people getting fatally injured has not reduced significantly for a number of years. This plateauing of workplace deaths suggests that the strategies to achieve progress in preventing major accidents are providing diminishing returns. And so calls for new approaches to safety management have grown.

Most times something bad doesn’t happen when we cut corners, so it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we are working “safe enough.” We need to focus our attention on being good instead of lucky.